Formula 1 – Red Bull Racing – Jerez Test Day 1

Mark Webber steered Red Bull Racing’s 2012 challenger, the RB8, out on track for the first time today and despite a slightly delayed start ended the day as the fourth-quickest man.

“It was good,” said Webber of the RB8’s debut. “I felt quite comfortable in the car quite quickly. It’s very early days, but so far so good. We had a small delay this morning with a part due to fog at the airport. It’s never part of the plan to give up running time, but you can’t control mother nature. However, we made a good recovery, got 54 laps done this afternoon and we’ll aim for a better day tomorrow.“

Head of Race Engineering Ian Morgan commented that although the late start was unexpected, it didn’t cause any major issues in terms of getting through the day’s programme.

“The delay meant we didn’t get running until midday, which is a little bit frustrating, but otherwise I think this has been the best car build we’ve ever had,” he said. “Fortunately the delay wasn’t too severe, as it was very cold early this morning and for the first hour and a half I don’t think the track was in great condition anyway. So we probably only lost an hour or so of proper running. When Mark did get going, it was pretty smooth and we didn’t see anything unexpected. We have done a lot of simulation work and today pretty much confirmed what we are getting from that. It’s nice to repeat it on track and we’re happy with how things went.

“We’re set to do some tyre evaluation tomorrow. It’s a tight testing schedule and tomorrow is Mark’s last day in the car here, before Sebastian takes over, so we have a lot to get through.”